Re-opening old wounds: the Butte debate seating scandal

by: Jay Stevens

Mon May 21, 2007 at 16:10:40 PM MST

Unfortunately, O'Brien's headline for the FEC ruling - "Montana Standard, Resodyn cleared in Senate debate flap" - was misleading. Here's what the FEC ruled:

"The fact that Resodyn Corp. had seats that were located in the center section of the audience could not have had an effect on the substance of the debate itself, such as the questions that were asked of the candidates or the ability of the candidates to respond to the questions," the decision said.

Additionally, the FEC said that Resodyn did not request reserved seating and that it was extended by The Standard after the research and development firm agreed to help sponsor the debate, believing the seats were for corporation employees.

"Once informed of the relationship between Resodyn Corp. and the Friends of Conrad Burns-2006, The Montana Standard refused to accept any funds from Resodyn Corp. to defray the costs of the debate," the decision said.

But...remember...the Standard didn't refuse Resodyn's money until after a brouhaha broke out over the funding. To more fully remember the situation, take a stroll back to September...

Shane ran with my comment and looked up the donations made by the company and its executives to Burns' campaign and the Montana GOP. To the tune of some $30K in the last ten months. Big Sky Dems was there; relates an anecdote whereby a couple of undecided voters were booted for refusing to wear Conrad Burns stickers while sitting in the Resondyn section. Matt ran with these facts, and realized that Resondyn's support of the debate and a Burns section likely runs counter to state election laws. Pogie sticks it to Lee Enterprises, who has the nerve to criticize raucous crowd behavior, but knowingly co-sponsored an event with an ardent Burns supporter, thus abetted their illegal activity.

(Sadly, most of the links are broken.) Okay, so I was wrong about the activity being illegal, at least by federal standards. But what happened was pretty scummy. Members of the public getting kicked out of seats because of the clothes they were wearing? And remember, Resodyn's raucous little corner of the audience misled television viewers on the number of Burns supporters at the debate.

The bottom line is that money bought seating privileges at an event that's supposed to be reflective of our nation's egalitarian ideals.

I'm glad the Standard apologized. But the FEC ruling in no way "clears" the players of anything other than criminal behavior.

The Standard showed poor judgment - for which it apologized - for not realizing it was in bed with a Burns-backer; and Resodyn showed poor judgement - for which it never apologized - for muscling a Burns-only section into the auditorium, proving that it pays to pay in our political system.